


home

by Stillreadingfanfictbh



Series: Larry One Shots [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Farmer Harry Styles, Fluff and Angst, Kinda, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:01:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27639256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stillreadingfanfictbh/pseuds/Stillreadingfanfictbh
Summary: louis likes to go on long drives to the country when he's sad.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Larry One Shots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162739
Kudos: 7





	home

**Author's Note:**

> TW for suicidal thoughts but it gets fluffy too :)

I really want to die, Louis thinks to himself.

It should be a sad thought but it's not. Louis thinks this same thought daily, hourly probably. It's become less sad to him over time. In fact, the thought that he will die at some point in the future brings him relief.

Truthfully he wishes he was a bit less cowardly and a bit more selfish, maybe then he could actually go through with doing the deed himself. He won't though, he knows that. He loves his family too much to just leave them without an opportunity to say goodbye. Plus research shows that the family and friends of people who commit suicide are a lot more likely to get depression themselves. Louis could never let the people around him fall into the hole he finds himself in.

But Louis isn't a good enough person to get help. Something in his dark twisted mind tells him he doesn't deserve help, another part of his mind is convinced that any help he does receive won't work. He'll always be stuck like this. Depressed. A burden.

It isn't until he meets Harry that he feels like maybe he doesn't deserve this feeling. Maybe he should get help. Maybe it will work.

Harry is very bright. The second brightest being in his life, the first being his mom, who always knows how to bring a smile to his face. But he doesn't see her often, she lives in upstate New York with the rest of his family and Louis lives in Atlanta, it's too far away for him to go up there for a weekend.

Louis works a very boring job that he doesn't much care about. Honestly, Louis earned a degree in architectural management, he could get a much better job than what he has now if he tried a bit harder. He's always struggled with motivating himself to try at anything though.

When Louis meets Harry, Louis was especially tired of being alive. He has just gotten out of work, it was only six, a little too early for thoughts like this to cloud his mind. Louis hopped in his car and drove. He sometimes gets sick of the city, he secretly hopes that one day he will settle down in a quiet farmed area. So, just to appease his own thoughts, he drives a bit out of the city and into the country just to look at houses and drive around farmland. To pretend that he's in them, happy with some chickens to feed and a family that loves him.

Louis stopped in front of one, particularly comfortable-looking house. He shouldn't even call it a house, it's a home. It looks lived in, like it's had some wear and tear over the years, but not so much that it looks ugly. Louis likes that the home doesn't look perfect, he likes that the house could be repainted and that there is antique shit just laying out and about in the yard. They would almost look like decoration if there weren't vines and weeds growing up around them so badly that you almost can't see them. He especially likes the incandescent yellow lights. At home and at his work and basically throughout the whole city are the too-bright fluorescent lights that may be better for the environment but often gives Louis a headache and makes everything feel like a hospital.

Louis must have stopped in front of this particular home for too long because someone comes out of it and waves at him kindly from the front porch. Louis thinks that he should probably start the car and drive away before this man starts questioning him, but honestly, Louis mind isn't working very well right now. He doesn't want this kind of man to think that he's a stalker either. Louis also doesn't quite know where he's at, should he turn right or left to get back on the interstate?

The man taps on Louis's passenger side window and signals for Louis to roll it down. The first thing Louis thinks is that he is awfully pretty. He definitely looks like someone that would live in a perfectly imperfect house like that. He's wearing faded loose blue jeans, rolled up a little to show a pair of shitty work boots, and a simple grey-ish blue t-shirt. The only thing that throws Louis off is the bandanna tied onto one of the loops in his jeans, Louis wonders if he knows what it symbolizes if it's intentional or accidental. It's not the 70's anymore though, in fact, Louis was born in '91 so he's not quite sure why he's thinking about the '70s or the movements that occurred within that time period.

Louis rolls down his window and the man flashes him a smile that is too bright and too happy for a stranger sitting in his driveway at dusk for no reason.

"Are you okay, sir?" The man asks. Louis shouldn't be surprised to hear that he has a bit of a southern drawl. Though, he isn't quite sure how to deal with being called sir. People in the city don't care much for manners, in fact now that Louis thinks about it he doesn't think he's been called sir before. Ever.

"Um, yeah." Louis can hear the hesitancy in his own voice, he doesn't know if he's being hesitant because he's not quite sure he's okay or if it's because he's talking to a stranger after stalking his home.

"Are ya sure?" The man asks, his eyebrows squint together and Louis can see him looking in the car more like he's checking for something, maybe drugs, and alcohol. Though Louis would never drive while intoxicated, and he hasn't done drugs (weed doesn't count) a day in his life. This man doesn't know that though.

Louis nods and says, "yes, I'm fine."

He sounds more confident this time around, but even though he sounds more sure, doesn't mean he is.

"Okay then," the man says, he brings his hand up to his forehead to wipe the hair out of his face, It's brown and curly and it almost reaches his chin. "Um, are you lost then? Is that why you've been parked on my property for about thirty minutes?"

Before Louis can stop himself he says, "thirty minutes?"

He honestly can't believe that he's been out here for that long, just staring at this man's home. He looks at the clock on his dash though and it reads 7:30, so he must be right. This guy must think Louis is a total psycho.

The man nods, "do you need help or somethin?"

"Um, no, maybe..." Louis has to get his thoughts in order before he begins to drive again, though. He knows that driving while feeling this anxious and strung up is no good.

He must look a bit out of it, because the man says, "would you like to come inside for a bit? I've got half a pot of coffee left from this mornin' that I can warm for you."

Louis should say no. He doesn't know this man, he could be a serial killer and he lures his victims with his very average farmhouse.

Louis agrees though, partly because he wants to see the inside of the house, a little bit because this guy seems cute and nice and Louis would like to hear him talk a bit more, but also because he is so strung tight and doesn't particularly feel like driving all the way back to the city right now.

"So what's your name?" The man asks as they walk together to his front door. Louis notices that the stairs creak when he walks up to them and the railing is a bit loose. He shouldn't love it so much.

"Louis," Louis thinks they probably should have introduced themselves before going to his home, "what's yours?"

"Harry." He opens his front door, it had a screen in front of it so he had to open that first. Louis never understood why people felt the need for a screened door, but it seems to fit this particular home very nicely.

The inside of the house is just like the outside. Cute, but messy and needing a bit of a fixing. The kitchen is Louis's favorite part of the house, though he's only seen the foyer and the living room, so he probably shouldn't say that quite yet. The kitchen is huge and open, it's also very bright, with white cabinets but a colorful backsplash and cute knobs for the handles of the cabinets. Louis wonders if they fixed up the kitchen recently.

There is a bit of awkward silence as Louis stands in the kitchen weirdly, watching Harry warm-up two cups of coffee in the microwave, so Louis says because he wants to make things more awkward, apparently, "um thanks for inviting me in, and, um, sorry for hanging outside of your house like a creep."

Harry laughs loudly, but it sounds more like a squawk. He guesses it's what you call a guffaw, though Louis has never used that word a day in his life, it seems to perfectly describe Harry's laugh.

"So you do realize it was a bit creepy." Harry is grinning at him, and Louis can tell that Harry doesn't mind much that he sat out there, "I kept waiting for you to leave, or the very least come knock on my door."

"I didn't realize I was out there for so long." Louis wishes he could laugh with Harry but he doesn't quite have the energy. He looks down with a blush.

Harry pulls the mugs out of the microwave muttering "hot, hot, hot" and places them on the small wooden table in between the kitchen and the living room. Harry then grabs the sugar from beside the coffee machine and the cream out of the fridge, placing them on the table.

"So where are ya from, Louis?" Harry asks, he's the first one to make a move for the sugar, Louis decides to start with the cream. Then they switch.

Louis quite likes it when Harry says his name, it makes him feel a bit more real and alive. "I live in the city, but I'm from New York."

Harry's looks a bit confused, "you came from one big city to a smaller city 14 hours away?"

Louis shakes his head and gives Harry a small smile, though he isn't quite sure why he smiles. "No, no I didn't live in New York City, I lived more north. Less city more fields and trees."

Maybe that's why Louis likes Harry's home, it reminds him of New York, though he hasn't been back up there in ages. His family is usually the one to visit him, not the other way around.

"Ahhh," Harry says, "that sounds nice. Why did you move here?"

Louis wonders why Harry isn't asking him other questions like why the hell he was sitting in his driveway for thirty minutes. But if he's ignoring it then so can Louis. "I went to school at GSU and never left, I guess."

Honestly, Louis needed a place that felt like his own. Sure, Louis loves New York, but for the longest time he felt like the only reason he loved it was because his family was there, he didn't have any other real connections.

"GSU is a nice school, I went to Emory." Harry says, "it's a bit of a way from here and I got a degree in journalism. My family is still upset about that bit because I can't do much with it. Especially around here, I've been thinking about moving to the city."

Louis likes that Harry is talking a lot. At least that means Louis doesn't have to talk as much, and it helps that Louis likes the sound of Harry's voice, deep with a bit of a drawl.

"You shouldn't move to the city," Louis says, sipping on his coffee and looking around the house, "it would be a shame to leave such a beautiful home."

Harry hums, "it's a bit shit, isn't it? Plus it's my parents, not mine."

"It's still beautiful, you don't have homes like this in the city. It's never quite there, either, like it is here. Plus, I'll bet you see stars, here don't you?"

Harry nods, this is the most Louis has said since he has started talking to Harry.

"We don't have stars in the city," Louis says. Louis wonders if Harry can hear the sadness in his voice.

"Do you want to see the stars?" Harry asks.

Louis looks out the window and it is almost dark. He guesses you could probably see a few by now already. This whole situation is weird already, so Louis nods because yes he wants to see the stars. He doesn't think he's seen stars since he went camping with one of his friends almost a year ago.

Harry leads Louis to a barn behind his house. Louis should have known that a house like this would have a barn with it. For a second Louis is thinking, oh shit, he's taking me his barn, he's going to murder me. Then Louis reminds himself that if Harry was going to kill him he probably would have done it already.

The barn is huge, and it has animals, like real live animals. Chickens are walking around and horses are in a few of the stables and he thinks he sees a goat. Harry introduces him to each and every one of the animals and Louis briefly thinks that this might be one of the strangest experiences of his life.

Eventually, Harry leads him up a wooden ladder and onto a clearing where there are stacks of hay. Harry pulls a large flannel blanket out of a corner and lays it onto the hay, and pulls Louis on top of it.

"Lay down," Harry says, he's whispering now for some reason. He pulls a long stick with a hook on the end out of the same corner the blanket was in and uses it to push open the doors on the roof, before putting the stick away and laying next to Louis himself.

It's hot and muggy and they are in a smelly barn, but they see the stars and Louis has honestly never felt more content and comfortable in his life.

"Do you do this often?" Louis asks.

Harry hums, Louis feels a bit of movement beside him, so he might have nodded too.

"This is my spot, has been since I was a kid. I like looking at the sky, it clears my head." Harry says, "plus the sounds of the animals comfort me. I spent most of my high school days just laying up here thinking, sometimes getting high and praying for a different life."

Louis definitely looks like the kind of guy who was a stoner in high school and this is definitely the kind of place you could smoke pot. Louis wonders if this is Harry opening up to him. Then he wonders if he should open up to Harry too. Instead, he asks, "why?"

"Why did I want a different life?"

Louis nods, he isn't sure Harry sees, because they are both laying on their backs, but Harry answers anyways. "I don't know, I guess I just got sick of the country. I always saw the same people, we always talked about and do the same things. We knew everyone's dirty secrets. I got sick of being a part of the town's shallow gossip, too."

Louis wonders what Harry could have ever done to be apart of town gossip, but he doesn't ask and Harry doesn't elaborate.

"But when I went to school I realized I actually miss it. I like living a slow life, I think, and I like helping out my family." Harry says, "I guess that's why I'm here, still living on the farm rather than using my degree in the city."

Louis closed his eyes for a bit while Harry was talking, and when he opens them again he notices that even more stars have popped up in the clear sky.

"I think I want to live a slow life like this." Louis says, "that's why I stopped at your house. It looked like it housed comfortable people. It wasn't too big and too clean and too perfect. Your house is used and homey. I want that."

"Why are you still living in the city then?" Harry asks. Louis looks over at him and sees that Harry is now turned on his side, facing Louis and not the sky. He blushes at the amount of attention that's on him.

"It takes too much energy," Louis says, he hopes Harry doesn't want him to elaborate because he isn't quite sure what he would say. It just takes too much energy to think about changing the life he's living now.

Harry hums again, Louis thinks the sound is nice, he thinks everything Harry does is nice though. He isn't sure why.

"You could come here anytime, you know." Harry says, he's turned on his back again, his eyes are closed and there is a slight blush on his cheeks, "if you feel like you need a break from the city. Or if you just want to see the stars or something, stop by. I won't mind. I like the company."

Luis blushes too. He barely knows Harry and he's offering this to him? Louis's heart fills with gratitude anyway.

"Won't your parents mind?" Louis asks. If he ever came by again, he wouldn't want to step on anyone's toes.

"They keep to themselves, usually." Harry says, "ma spends a lot of time in the little house she owns by the lake anyways, and when dad isn't here helping care for the farm he's with her. Now that I'm here they spend less time here and moreover there, so they wouldn't mind."

"Must get lonely, then." Louis says, for the first time tonight he has a genuine smile on his face, "I guess I can stop by every once in a while. Keep your company."

When Louis turns his head to look at Harry he's smiling too. "That would be nice."

Despite the weird circumstances in which they met, Louis and Harry exchange numbers and Louis finds himself in Harry's driveway again two days later. Only this time they are calling it a date.

Later on, after they've been dating for well over two months, Harry tells Louis that he only invited him into his home that night because he looked sad. Harry goes on to say that Louis often looks sad. Louis still hasn't spoken to Harry about his daily thoughts of suicide, but he has discussed more with Harry about how he isn't content with his life or where he lives. He spends more time at Harry's home than he does in his own, honestly, even though it's almost an hour drive to work and he wastes so much money on gas.

When he does bring it up to Harry he looks heartbroken and Louis wants to pull the words out of the air and shove it back into his mind. He never wants Harry to look like this, and what's worse is that he caused that look.

They were sitting on Harry's worn-in couch watching some crappy movie that Louis wasn't really paying attention to when he tells Harry, "I think about dying a lot."

Harry immediately pauses the movie and pulls away from Louis enough to look him in the eyes, that heartbroken look all over his face, "What?"

Louis immediately shrinks in on himself, he looks away from Harry, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"Louis," Harry says, his voice is tight and Louis thinks that this might be the first time he sees Harry cry, "please tell me you aren't suicidal, that you would nev- never do that."

"I wouldn't kill myself, Haz," Louis says, he sounds nonchalant about suicide. He is nonchalant about suicide and only then does he think, this isn't normal - I'm not normal.

Still, Harry sighs with relief, "how long have you felt this way? Have you thought about getting help? You don't hurt yourself do you?"

It's too many questions at once and Louis's head is already spinning and his muscles have stiffened up, so it takes him a minute to respond to Harry. "I've felt this way since college, I think. I don't know that therapy or anything will work, or that I deserve it, I guess. I don't hurt myself, H, I promise."

Harry pulls Louis closer to him and runs his thumb over that spot between his shoulder blades that always smooths him out.

"I think you should get help, Lou." Harry says, his voice is still so tight, "do you think you feel like this because you don't like the city? Because you don't like your job?"

Louis wants to shrug out of Harry's arms and isolate himself until Harry forgets this conversation happened. But he knows that there has to be a reason that he said something to Harry to begin with, something in him must really want to change because he's never spoken about this to anyone in his entire life.

"Maybe," Louis says, "I don't really know. It feels like it's just who I am now, these thoughts have been apart of me for so long it's normal. I'm not sure they would go away. Even if I moved out of the city and got a job I liked and saw a therapist."

Harry sighs and puts his chin on top of Louis's head and says, "I knew you were sad, Lou. I didn't know it was this bad."

Louis pushes his head further into Harry's chest, and mumbles, "I'll change it. For you."

Again Harry pulls away, he looks upset and says, "no Lou, not for me, for you. You need to change for you because you want to. What if I were to ever leave your life, Lou? You could spiral or something an- I don't know, Lou. If you change and get better you have to do it because you want to not because you think I want it."

Louis appreciates Harry's speech, and it makes him feel loved and deserving of good mental health. "I know, H, I want to get better I swear. Not just for you. I wouldn't have brought all of this up to you if I didn't want to change."

Harry nods, he relaxes into the couch more and lets Louis lean into him, "Do you, um, want me to help you look for a therapist or anything?"

Louis shakes his head no. He can do that himself when he gets home, he just wants to enjoy his time with Harry tonight.

-

Two months later, Louis has been seeing a therapist for almost a month now. He's been making some changes in his life. He's been looking at jobs outside of the city, closer to Harry. He's been talking to his family, his mom, more about his struggles. His mom initially wanted Louis to come home and get a job in New York.

Then Louis told his mom that he's been seeing someone. She was a bit shocked, Louis tells his mom about everything in his life but he didn't bring up Harry. He didn't want to tell her how they met, because it was weird and she didn't know about how fucked in the head he was. But once he opened up to her he did talk to her about Harry.

"I want to meet him Loubear." Louis can see the big grin on his mom's face through the screen, "maybe I'll meet him over Christmas?"

"I'm actually thinking that we might spend Christmas at Harry's farmhouse?" Louis was hesitant to bring this up because they've always spent every Christmas in the city, "You can stay there, with us, there are three extra rooms. And Harry's family will come too."

"Oh honey, that sounds so nice, I would love that, as long as Harry and his family don't mind."

Louis actually spent thanksgiving with Harry's family, and they discussed it then. Harry's mom is especially excited to meet Louis's mom, and Gemma, Harry's sister, is excited to hand around Louis's sisters. She doesn't get to be around actual feminine girls too much. Most of her friends prefer mudding and hunting than shopping.

"You aren't taking things too fast are you, Lou?" His mom asks after a while, "because, I don't know, all this family stuff and you stay with him often you said you've only been with him for four months."

Louis has thought about that too, and he's talked to his therapist about it. Louis hasn't really had a serious relationship ever. His college years were basically a hoe phase and once he got out of college he didn't really have the energy to put himself out there.

"It's a little fast," Louis agreed, "but I think I really love Harry. It just feels right momma."

His mom smiles then and nods. She has been in three different marriages, and she knows what it's like to feel something so strongly, even if it doesn't last a lifetime. She loves her son and only wishes the best for him.

"Well, I'm excited to meet him, babes." His mom says, "only four more weeks!"

Only hours after that phone call Louis finds himself driving straight to Harry's after work. Harry had texted him earlier in the day saying that he has big news. Louis would be lying if he wasn't nervous to hear what Harry is going to say.

When Louis gets to Harry's house he sees Harry's parents' car parked in the driveway. It must really be something big if Louis invited them. Louis really likes Harry's parents, though, so them being here doesn't make him anymore anxious.

Louis doesn't bother knocking when he gets to the door. He just walks right in. He doesn't see the family in the living room so he assumes that they're in the kitchen.

"Hello Louis," Harry's mom is the first to greet him.

Louis grins and goes over to Anne, he gives her a brief hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Hi, Anne. How are you?"

"I'm great," she says, "you know when I got invited over for dinner, I didn't think I would be doing the cooking, you know?"

Louis laughs lightly, "where is everyone then?"

"They're out in the barn doing god knows a what." She says, "I think Harry just needed to have a chat with Robin, though I'm not sure what about."

Louis hums. He hasn't a clue what's going on tonight either, "well, would you like some help with dinner?"

Anne nods and gives him a few things to do in the kitchen. They're together in the kitchen alone for a while, he tells Anne how excited his mom is to meet Harry and everyone, so that starts a discussion on updates on everyone's families.

After about thirty minutes, Harry and Robin come back into the kitchen. Louis scrunches his nose when Harry comes up to him and give him a hug and a kiss, "you smell like shit."

The room laughs, and Harry nods, "I know, I need to shower, I just cleaned out the coop. I'll be back in a bit. Thanks for making dinner ma."

Robin goes off somewhere in the house to clean up a bit too, leaving Anne and Louis alone again to finish dinner and set the table. Over the few months that Louis has been a part of Harry's life he's noticed that Anne and Robin have gradually been getting their things out of the house, and basically moving to their house on the lake. Harry hasn't brought it up to Louis yet, but it definitely feels like the house is more Harry's than the families.

Harry comes back ten minutes later and Robin a short while after that. Harry finds a seat next to Louis and Robin is on the other side of the table by his wife. They eat and update each other on their days, and after the meal is done Harry finally says, "so I have some news..."

Harry is grinning and he lefts the dramatic pause go for a bit before he says, "I've got a job at the local paper!"

Louis grins too, he knows that Harry was getting sick of working with his dad, as much as he loves Robin, he doesn't want to work under him.

Anne smiles too, and thankfully so does Robin, he must not care too much that he has one less worker.

"That's great, honey!" Anne says, "when will you start? How much will you earn?"

"They said I can start next week," Harry says, "and I'll only earn about 35k a year, but I can still write freelance for other magazines and papers. And I could potentially earn more money depending on how much I write."

They talk more about Harry's new job, and after a bit, Harry and Louis are alone in the kitchen to do dishes and clean up while Anne and Robin are in the living room talking quietly.

"I'm proud of you," Louis tells Harry they've just finished cleaning up and Louis is leaning against the counter, and Harry is leaning against him. They were kissing a bit, so Harry pulls away.

"I'm happy. I'm actually using my degree, finally, and I won't even have to be in the office too much. I can write a lot at home, and even go to the city, be with you more." Harry nudges his nose against Louis, making him giggle.

"I'm excited for you," Louis says, giving him a kiss.

They go back out into the living room, mostly because Anne says she wants to talk with them a bit more before they leave. Louis doesn't think anything of it, but he notices that Harry is a bit nervous.

"I talked to dad about buying the house from him today," Harry says to Louis, just before they go out to the living room.

Louis looks at him wide-eyed but before he says anything he's dragged to the living room.

"Harry, baby," Anne says with a small smile, "if you wanted the house you should have just said so."

Louis doesn't quite know what to take from that, but thankfully Robin clears it up by saying, "I talked to your momma, Harry, and we both agree that you can have the house, you don't have to pay for it or anything. Okay? We'll just change it so it's in your name."

Harry grins, and Louis sees tears in his eyes. Louis's heart is warmed too, he loves this house and he loves Harry, he's so excited to watch these changes in Harry's life.

"Of course we need to talk to Gems about it." Anne says, "I want to make sure she's comfortable with it, but I don't see why she wouldn't be."

"And the animals would be your responsibility," Robin says, "of course I'll help take care of them whenever you need me, but I won't be here every day or anything."

"Okay." Harry grins, Louis knows he doesn't mind taking care of the animals, he's even started teaching Louis how to take care of some of the animals.

-

Louis gets an email about a job interview a town over from Harry's almost a week later. It's for a corporation that mostly builds suburban homes, and his job would be to make floor plans that correspond with the personal wants of buyers. It sounds good the Louis and is much better than the job he has right now.

He doesn't tell Harry about it until the interview is over. If he got bad vibes from the interview and didn't feel like he was a good fit, he didn't want to get Harry's hopes up, or his own for that matter. But he did actually get good vibes from the interviewer. Especially when he says that Louis is one of his top choices, and is much more qualified than the other people he's interviewed so far.

He calls Harry about it, because he has to work early the next morning, and can't really drive to Harry's and back today.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Harry says into the phone, it immediately goes to FaceTime, mostly because Louis wants to see Harry's face. Harry has painted all over his face.

"Why do you have paint all over you?" Louis asks with a laugh.

Harry laughs too, "I was repainting the fences outside and Bert ran into me and the brush just, did this."

Louis snorts and waits for Harry to wash his face off before he says, "so I did, in fact, call you for a reason."

"Oh?" Harry asks, Louis watches as he finds a seat on his couch.

"Mhm, I had a job interview today." Louis says, "for a company in Andersonville."

Andersonville is only twenty minutes from Harry's home. Harry's eyebrows shoot up and Louis can see that he is suppressing a smile.

"And? Did it go well?" Harry asks.

Louis grins, "I think so. The guy told me that I'm his top choice? So that good. He said that I was more qualified than everyone else he's interviewed. He said that I'll know by Wednesday next week if I got the job."

Harry smiles too full dimples and all, "well I think that your gonna get it. We should celebrate. I can go up there tomorrow and we can get dinner?"

Louis hums, "that sounds great babe."

They don't talk about what Louis is going to once he gets the job. Louis can tell that Harry wants to question it more. Will Louis stay in the city and drive to Andersonville every day? Will he move to an apartment in Andersonville? Will he move in with Harry?

Louis already knows what he wants to do, but he needs to take one step at a time. He can't rush into this, especially since he doesn't even know if he is on the job yet.

-

Everything gets a bit more hectic around a week before Christmas. Harry is in Louis's apartment right now, helping him pack up some of his things. Louis did get that job and Louis decided that he would move in with Harry, but he's going to wait until after Christmas to actually move. Right now he's been traveling to his new work, then to Harry's house, then to his house multiple times a week. He doesn't work every day, because it's the holiday season and they want to ease him into his new job.

Louis has to pick up his family in two days, and Harry will be staying with Louis in the city for both of those days, just helping him tie his loose ends before Christmas at the end of the month.

By now they've only been in a relationship for six months, but it feels like a lot longer. Louis loves his domestic moments with Harry, he loves spending time with Harry and hopes this feeling never goes away. If Louis could he would propose to Harry right now. that thought scares him a little bit.

"What are you thinking about?" Harry asks, he runs his hand through Louis's hair.

Louis hums and smiles up at Harry. His head is laying in Harry's lap and they are supposed to be watching a movie, "thinking about you."

Harry smiles too, "really? Good things, I hope."

"Always good things." Louis nuzzles his head into Harry's tummy a little, "I just really love you. A bit too much, I think."

Harry continues to play with Louis's hair when he says, "is it possible to love someone too much?"

"Maybe." Louis says, and as an example of how much Louis loves him and to show how it could be too much he says, "you know, if you asked me to marry you right now, I would."

Harry stops playing with Louis's hair, he seems a bit shocked.

"I'm not proposing, or asking for a proposal." Louis says, quickly clearing the situation up, "I'm just saying that I'm all in. I've never felt this with anyone."

Harry leans in and kisses Louis's nose, "I'm all in, too, though you'll have to wait a bit for the proposal. I want to meet your mom first, at least."

Louis snorts and goes back to watching the movie.

••••••••••••• This is where I was going to separate this into two parts and decided not to :) •••••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••  
Louis doesn't have enough seats in his car for his whole family. He doesn't know if he should just make them Uber to Harry's or if he and Harry should pick them up from the airport. The thought of his family meeting Harry so soon after arriving makes him anxious. He doesn't know why though because he just knows in his heart that his family will love him.

Before his mind spirals about this situation, Louis calls his mom to see what she wants to do. She is probably busy trying to make sure everyone is packed up and ready to go because her flight leaves in less than two hours. Louis feels a bit bad calling her at this time, but he needed to do it before she boarded the flight.

"Hello?" His mom answers and she sounds pretty breathless. She must not have looked at the caller ID before she answered.

"Hey mom, it's me." Louis says back, "are you guys getting ready?"

"Yeah, it's crazy around here. Thank God Lots came last night and stayed to help me get everything together." His mom says, "the twins are being a pain in the ass though, they refuse to pack the right clothes."

"Which twins?" Louis asks with a laugh, "the younger ones?"

"Both!" His mom exclaims, "I'm pretty sure Lottie is in there packing for the older ones, and Fiz just finished packing herself a second ago, so she's gonna help the younger ones. I swear I tell them every year to pack at least the night before and they never listen."

Louis tried not to laugh at his mom's irritation, "well, anyways, I called for a reason other than to hear you complain."

"Did you?"

"Yeah, so I don't have enough room in my car for all of you," Louis says it's an obvious statement. Every other year his mom Ubered to Louis's apartment, but it's less than 30 minutes away from the airport so usually, it wasn't a big deal.

"Mhm," his mom says, waiting for him to continue but acknowledging what he said.

"Do you want to Uber to Harry's? Which are an hour and thirty minutes away, at least barring traffic and such," Louis asks, "or would you prefer that Harry and I take separate cars to pick you guys up from the airport?"

"Hm, well which one are you comfortable with?" She asks him.

"I don't know mom, both sound good to me." Louis says, "I know everyone will love Harry, I guess a car ride will give some of them the opportunity to get to know him."

"I call driving with Harry then," his mom says with excitement, "and I'll take the younger ones off your hands and drive with him."

"Sounds good," Louis says, "at least it will only be you're pestering him and not everyone else."

His younger siblings do talk, but clearly not as much because they are four. They don't quite understand that Harry is his boyfriend, or what boyfriend even means. Everyone else does understand, though, and Louis knows for a fact they will take any opportunity they can to pester Harry and spill Louis's most embarrassing moments to him.

"Okay, well I think I hear them dragging their suitcases down the stairs." His mom says, "I've got to go. I'll call you before I board."

They say their goodbyes. Louis is at Harry's house right now, and Harry has been dealing with farm things all morning while Louis agreed to help him clean up the house a bit. It's pretty empty right now because Harry's parents took a lot of their things out. Harry is trying his best to decorate, but he hasn't had too much time or money to do it.

Louis had to put the sheets on the beds in the three guest rooms and make sure everything was dusted. He even bought a few scent things to plug into the walls when he was on his way down yesterday, because Harry's home is a bit dusty smelling, no matter how many times you vacuum and dust.

It takes a lot of energy to put the sheets on the bed, and Louis has never been very good at doing it, to begin with. So by the time he's down with that he's winded. Three beds aren't enough for his whole family though, so Louis is blowing up an air mattress in one of the guest rooms. He's going to let everyone decide where they want to sleep, but he assumes that his older sisters will sleep in one room together and that the two pairs of twins will sleep in the room with the blowup, hopefully giving his mom some privacy in the other room.

After Louis is done setting up the room he has to work on the living room and kitchen. Harry isn't messy by any means, but he is busy, so he hasn't gotten around to organizing and dusting or even cleaning the glass coffee table in front of the couch which desperately needs it.

When Harry comes in from outside he sees Louis desperate reaching up to try to dust the fan off. Harry laughs a little because Louis can't reach, he is just a smudge too short.

"I think you're a little short, babe," Harry says, walking over to Louis and kissing him on the cheek.

Louis scrunches up his nose because he doesn't know if he will ever get used to Harry smelling like horse shit every morning before his shower. Then he says, "I'm not short."

"No, not short, but a little too short for this specific job. Do you want help?" Hardy asks, he pinches Louis's hip before saying, "The house looks very nice, thank you for helping me."

Louis grins, he steps away from under the fan and hands Harry the duster, and watching Harry get to work before saying, "no problem, I actually like cleaning. It's calming."

Harry hums then sneezes. There is dust everywhere and Louis might actually have to vacuum again because it's all over the carpet. Louis doesn't think the fan has been dusted before ever.

Louis does in fact vacuum again when Harry in the shower, then he moves on to the kitchen to wipe the counters off and eat a few of the Christmas cookings Harry made yesterday. Harry stocked up on baking ingredients so that everyone can make Christmas cookies at some point while they're here. Harry's mom is going to come over when that happens because she loves to make Christmas cookies. And she loves kids, she keeps begging Gemma to make her a grandbaby even though Gemma isn't in a relationship. Louis knows that Harry's mom is waiting until they've been in a relationship for at least a year before she brings it up to them.

Harry comes into the kitchen to see Louis leaning against the counter eating cookies and reading something on his phone. Harry goes up to him and leans against the counter beside him giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"My mom says that you and I should both drive to the airport to pick everyone up, is that okay with you?" Louis asks Harry, "I can still order an Uber for them."

"I would love to drive them." Harry says with a grin, "who do you think will be in my car?"

"My mom, probably, and the youngest ones." Louis says, "don't let her pester you too much."

"I can't wait for her to pester me," Harry says, "if your mom is anything like you I'm going to love her. And your siblings."

Louis leans into Harry's shoulder and sighs, "It's going to be great. A bit stressful though, your mom says this house hasn't seen that many people in years, hopefully, it will still be standing by the end of it."

Harry's whole family was never into hosting big gatherings, their Christmas's are usually just them and maybe one or two of their close family members. This Christmas is going to be pretty big, including both Louis's family and Harry's family. A total of 12 people altogether.

"When do we have to leave?" Harry asks, his hands find his way to Louis's hips, and Harry steps in front of him, pushing Louis into the counter. His nose is basically touching Louis' and Louis knows exactly what he wants.

Louis hums and kisses Harry just for a minute before pulling away and saying, "I think we have time. Their flight lands at seven."

It's only about three right now, and it takes about two hours to get there with traffic around the airport. So they have about an hour before they have to leave.

Harry drags Louis up to his bedroom, "that'll be the last time we can do this for a while, hm?"

Louis snorts, but nods, "I'm not going to let you fuck me with my family in the house."

Harry pouts.

An hour later Louis is quickly throwing on clothes, Harry following him through the house. They don't have a rush or anything, but Louis is excited to see his family. He hasn't seen most of them in almost a year, he saw his two older sisters at the beginning of the summer, though, right when they got a break they came to visit.

Louis gives Harry a quick peck before hopping into his car, Harry follows behind him. They said that they were going to stop and get some fast food together for dinner, so they'll probably stop at the McDonalds just before getting into the city.

About two hours later Louis and Harry are standing in the airport with a stomach full of Macca's waiting for Louis's family. They are by baggage claim, and his family's plane just landed, so they should be coming down those escalators shortly. Louis is shaking with excitement and Harry is holding the cute little sign he made last night that says, "welcome to Georgia, Tomlinson's!"

Harry grins when he sees the family coming down the escalator, he's seen many photos so he knew exactly what he should be looking for. He gently nudged Louis's shoulder and points to his family and Louis smiles even wider.

At the bottom of the escalators Louis sees his mom, and his oldest sister Lottie, let go of the youngest twins. They quickly run to Louis and wrap their arms around his waist. Honestly, Louis is basically in tears, because other than face times, he hasn't seen his babies in almost a year.

Louis picks them both up, one in each arm, and they are honestly too big for it, but Louis sucks it up. He holds both of them tight and gives them a peck on the cheek, "I missed my little goblins."

They take it upon themselves to give a whole bunch of tiny kisses all over Louis's face, "miss you too, Ou."

They aren't very good at pronouncing "L's" to Louis is "Ou," "Ou Ou," or "Ouis."

Louis drops them as his family approaches. He gives his mom a great big hug first, and he is crying now, "hi momma."

"Oh hi, baby." She's crying too, so Louis doesn't feel bad at all for being emotional, "is this Harry?"

Louis rolls his eyes, "obviously, ma."

His mom smacks Louis's arm lightly then turns to talk to Harry. Louis lets her do her thing and turns to hug all of his other siblings.

"I missed all of you." Louis says, "can hardly live without you guys, you need to move down here."

"It's too hot." Lottie says, she's looking at the baggage claim, "I think I see our bags."

It's chaos trying to get everyone's bags. Most of the bags are loaded into the back of Harry's pickup truck.

"I can't believe Dot and Ern get to ride with Harry and not Fiz and I." Lottie exclaims, "I want to get to know Harry!"

She's honestly pouting now. She's a twenty-one-year-old adult pouting.

Louis sighs, "you know that if the twins are away from ma for too long they'll get fussy."

Lottie sighs dramatically, and Fizzy smacks her arm and tells her to stop being a baby. The other twins don't say much, they aren't very big talkers, but he knows that once they get into the car they won't stop talking until they get to Harry's.

All the girls have plenty of questions about Louis and Harry's relationship. For almost half the drive that's all, they talk about. "How did you meet?" "How old is he?" "He has animals?" "Are you in looovvveee?" "Is he good in bed?"

The last one was asked by Lottie, making the twins squeal and making Fizzy reach into the front seat to smack Lottie. Louis blushes a little, "none of your, business Lots! You're my sister!"

"Okay, I get it you can't say anything with the young ones in the car." Lottie leans over and whispers, "blink twice if he is."

Louis, mostly as a joke, but also because it's the truth, blinks twice. Lottie laughs loudly leaning back into the seat, but she doesn't say anything else. Louis is pretty sure that the girls in the back already know what's up.

"So ma said you and Tommy are getting pretty serious," Louis says talking to Lottie. She's been dating a guy named Thomas for almost the same amount as Louis has been with Harry.

Lottie shrugs, "I guess. He's nice I really like him..."

"I'm sensing a but?" Louis says, looking at Lottie in the corner of his eye.

Lottie doesn't say anything for a second making Fizzy in the back say, "he hasn't introduced her to his family!"

"Fiz! Come on!" Lottie exclaims, "can't you just shut your mouth?"

"Ok guys chill." Louis says, then he says to Lottie, "are you upset about that? That he hasn't introduced you?"

Lottie frowns, "I guess. Like I invited him over for thanksgiving and he met everyone and it was nice and I was kinda expecting him to invite me to meet his family. I don't know. He talks about them a lot and he loves them like they aren't bad people. It makes me feel like I'm more serious about him than he is about me. Like you only met Harry's family after like a week!"

Louis hums and points out, "well you are only just now meeting him and it's been six months."

"His family only lives an hour away from home. We live 14 hours by car." Lottie says with a deep frown, "do you think he's embarrassed by me or something?"

"Of course not, Lots! If anything he's embarrassed by his family." Louis says, "it's scary introducing your girlfriend to your family. I'm scared about ma meeting Harry, I know they'll like each other but I'm stuck wondering what if they don't? Will I break up with him? It's a big deal, Lots. Did you talk to him about it?"

Lottie sighs, "no, I don't wanna make him upset or anything."

"Just talk to him about it." Louis says, "how about you girls back there? Any of you guys have a significant other?"

Phoebe speaks up in the back and says, "didn't ma tell you? Fiz has a girlfriennnnnd."

Louis raises his eyebrows at Fizzy, "a girlfriend? Who?"

Fizzy blushes and puts her hands in her face after reaching over daisy to slap Phoebe's leg. Fizzy grumbles, "keep your trap shut Phoebe's?"

"Who is it?" Louis asks again, his family has never been one to point out sexuality or anything, but it does feel nice to not be the only gay one, "is it that one girl your always with? Sid or Sidone or whatever."

"It's Sidonna, Lou, and I'm not dating her." Fizzy says, "her name is Hayley. We've only been going out for a little bit, it's honestly not even worth mentioning."

Louis hums, he can see by the deep blush on Fizzy's cheeks that she doesn't really want to talk about it so he changes the conversation to talk more about Harry's farm and how excited Harry's sister is to meet them.

By the time they get back to Harry's it's almost ten, Harry called a little bit ago, during a pee break, and said that the twins were asleep and his mom has been interviewing him since she got into the car, but she seems to like him. Lottie is asleep too, her head lolled against the window. Phoebe, Daisy, and Fizzy are still awake though, texting away on their phones, listening to music, and occasionally grumbling at each other to move their feet and not to lean on each other.

Lottie is jostled awake when Louis accidentally goes over a pothole in Harry's driveway, Louis can see Harry's truck only a little bit ahead of him. Everyone is a lot more subdued as they make their way into the house. The younger kids are still asleep, as everyone is trying to move their stuff inside Louis and his mom carry them into the right room and tuck them in, they already have comfortable clothes on so they should be good until morning.

Louis's mom must be really tired because she doesn't say much as they walk back to help unload the luggage to the car. Harry and Louis show everyone around as much as they can tonight. They all only have one bathroom, two if you include the en suite connected to Harry's room. So Louis and Harry let Joanne shower in their shower while all the girls fight for the other shower.

It takes a while for everyone to get comfortable for the night, and Louis doesn't crawl into bed with Harry until almost midnight. He was preoccupied with helping his sisters get ready and making sure his mom was comfortable.

Louis is still buzzing by the time he gets into bed. Now that his family is here he isn't as anxious as he is excited and happy. Harry is cuddling into Louis in no time, kissing his shoulder and his back and pulling Louis' waist into his own.

"How are you feeling?" Harry ask.

Louis hums messes with Harry's fingers and says, "good. I'm happy to see my family. I missed them."

Louis feels Harry's smile against his cheek, "I love your mom."

They talk a little bit more, and Louis calms down enough to fall asleep. Louis doesn't think he'll ever get used to falling asleep next to Harry.

-

Christmas is a blast. Harry's family and Louis's family get on like a house on fire and Louis doesn't think that he's ever been happier in his life.

Louis tells his mom that he's moving in with Harry as they are driving to the airport for their flight home. Louis's mom couldn't have been happier for them.

"I'm so glad that your happy, Lou." She says, "when we came down for Christmas last year you were so gloomy, this year you're like a totally different person."

Louis grins, "I feel like a different person."

Louis's mom pats him on the back, "Love will do that to you."


End file.
